FAQ · Reamer Research and Reamer Server: what they are and who they fit

How do Reamer Research and Reamer Server compare with MultiCharts?

MultiCharts is a Windows charting and trading platform with ready broker connections, an optimizer and its own scripting language, built for traders who want one application from chart to live order. Reamer Research and Reamer Server are libraries for Linux and Apple Silicon Macs that you build your own system around, in Python or C++, with written fill rules and byte-identical runs. Reamer Labs suits quants who write their own code.

MultiCharts is a finished Windows application for charting, testing and live trading. Reamer Research and Reamer Server are libraries you build your own system around. MultiCharts gives you the whole desk in one window. Reamer Labs supplies the research and order-management core, and you write the program around it.

Details below were checked against MultiCharts' own pages in November 2026.

What MultiCharts is

  • A charting and trading application. Charts, strategy testing and automated trading sit in one program.
  • Its own scripting language. Strategies are written in PowerLanguage, which follows EasyLanguage style. A separate .NET edition is also sold.
  • Detail inside the bar. Bar Magnifier replays finer data inside a bar, down to ticks if you have them. Without finer data, a strategy reacting inside a bar is limited to the open, high, low and close.
  • Optimization and portfolios. The Advanced plan adds Portfolio Trader, and matrix and walk-forward optimization.
  • Windows only. It has no Mac or Linux version, and MultiCharts suggests a virtual machine for Macs.
  • Public prices. Plans start at $99 per month, with a lifetime licence also sold, and there is a free trial. See their purchase page for current figures.

How Reamer Labs differs

  • Libraries, not an application. Reamer Research and Reamer Server each have a stable C interface, and you write a short program around them. There are no charts.
  • General-purpose languages. Strategies are written in Python or C++, or any language that can call C, so your own libraries and models run inside the strategy.
  • Fill rules in writing. The public execution specification states how orders fill on bars. A seeded tick path runs through every bar, so you do not need tick data to resolve a stop and a target in one bar.
  • Byte-identical runs. With a fixed seed, output matches to the byte, which suits audit and regression tests.
  • Several instruments on one account. Instruments share one timeline and one account in every Reamer Research run.
  • Live through your own gate. Reamer Server runs your pre-trade gate on every order and sends accepted orders through a broker connector you write. The kit has a worked FIX 4.4 example. MultiCharts ships ready broker connections.
  • Different machines. Both products run on Linux x86-64, and Reamer Research also runs on macOS on Apple Silicon. Neither runs on Windows.

Which to choose

  • MultiCharts if you work on Windows, want charts and ready broker connections, write strategies in an EasyLanguage style, or do not want to run your own software.
  • Reamer Labs if you write Python or C++, run on Linux or an Apple Silicon Mac, need strategies that call your own code, and want fills you can read and rerun to the byte. See Who are Reamer Research and Reamer Server for?

Price

Reamer Research costs $1,800 per seat per year and Reamer Server $7,200, each with a 30-day paid trial. See pricing.

Next questions

What are the best MultiCharts alternatives in 2026?MultiCharts alternatives fall into two groups. Trading applications such as NinjaTrader, TradeStation, Sierra Chart and AmiBroker keep the chart-first model, mostly on Windows. Code-first tools such as Zorro, QuantConnect and Reamer Research and Reamer Server from Reamer Labs suit quants who want to write Python, C or C++. If you want to stay in a charting application, the first group fits better.What is Reamer Research?Reamer Research is a deterministic research engine for mid-frequency quants. It is a library with a stable C interface that you call from Python, C++ or any language that can call C, on your own machine. It tests a strategy, diagnoses it trade by trade, sweeps it, reports it, and sends its orders live to Reamer Server. The same data, settings and seed give byte-identical results every run. It costs $1,800 per seat per year, with a $225 30-day trial.What is Reamer Server?Reamer Server is an order management engine that takes a strategy live. It is the core of your trading process, delivered as a library with a stable C interface. It holds order state and sequencing, runs your pre-trade check on every order and sends accepted orders to your broker through a connector you write. It costs $7,200 per seat per year, with a $900 30-day trial.Which operating systems are supported? Is there a Windows version?Reamer Research runs on Linux x86-64 with glibc 2.35 or later, and on macOS 11 or later on Apple Silicon. Reamer Server runs on Linux x86-64 with glibc 2.39 or later. There is no Windows version of either.Who are Reamer Research and Reamer Server for, and who are they not for?They are for systematic quants who write their own code and trade mid-frequency strategies on bars, held from minutes to days, whether independent or employed at a firm. They are not for high-frequency or order-book (level 2 or level 3) strategies, options modelling, discretionary or point-and-click trading, or anyone who wants market data, a hosted platform or a ready-made broker connection included.How much do Reamer Research and Reamer Server cost?Reamer Research is USD 1,800 per seat per year, and Reamer Server is USD 7,200 per seat per year. Each is paid once for the year and nothing renews automatically. A 30-day trial costs USD 225 for Reamer Research and USD 900 for Reamer Server. A seat is one product on one machine.

Every answer here restates the documents that ship in the kit, which are authoritative. All questions.

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